Oceanside gathers to fight scourge of overdose

In an effort to combat the opioid crisis, Oceanside residents gathered on Aug. 29 for a heartfelt and impactful overdose-awareness event. This was the fourth year that the Oceanside SAFE Coalition has hosted an Overdose Awareness Day on the schoolhouse green. The evening was part of a broader initiative to raise awareness, provide training, and foster a supportive network for those affected by substance use disorders.

“This probably means the most to me because it’s a reminder of why we started,” said Ali Eriksen, project coordinator for the SAFE Coalition — the acronym stands for Substance Abuse Free Environment. “… It’s our way of paying tribute and recognizing everyone we’ve lost, and a reminder of why we do our prevention work.”

The event featured several activities aimed at promoting awareness and healing, including the planting of purple flowers by Oceanside Community Warriors, a group which cleans up outdoor spaces among other services, to commemorate the lives lost to overdoses.

Attendees painted positive messages on rocks, and were introduced to a new community art effort called the Wish Flag Project. Eriksen explained that it was inspired by Tibetan prayer flags.

“The idea is that the wind carries the messages into the environment and brings them to fruition,” she said. The project is set to expand into the Oceanside school district, with sixth-graders contributing to it during the groups Drug Prevention Month, in October. The community’s messages created on the day will eventually be displayed in the newly renovated Oceanside Library.

The event also served as a venue to discuss the coalition’s ongoing initiatives, including the Active Parenting of Teens program.

“We’ve started sessions for high school and middle school parents, and it’s been going wonderfully,” Eriksen noted. The coalition plans to continue the sessions, which have helped support parents navigating the challenges of raising teenagers in today’s world.

The evening wasn’t just another community gathering — it was a testament to the power of collective action. “It started with just a few people,” Sarah Dowler, a coalition member and an Oceanside High School health teacher, said of the first Overdose Awareness Day in 2021, “and now, more and more are joining us each year. Even though it doesn’t seem like we have millions of people, the growth is evident, and the presence of local politicians and community leaders shows how important this cause is.”

Among the attendees were Congressman Anthony D’Esposito, State Sen. Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick, Assemblyman Brian Curran and Hempstead Town Councilwoman Laura Ryder.

The event’s intent was to engage and educate its participants, and it included a training session with Narcan, the nasal spray that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

“The Town of Hempstead is working very hard to get a Narcan kit into all the hands that we can,” Ryder said. The town offers Narcan training year-round, at a number of locations.

Dr. Dawn Williamson, an emergency-room physician at Nassau University Medical Center, led the Narcan session, and highlighted the alarming rise in overdoses, particularly those involving fentanyl.

“Fentanyl is so strong, and there’s so much of it in the community,” Williamson explained. “It’s crazy how high the numbers are on Long Island, and you wouldn’t suspect that, because it’s out in the suburbs.”

She emphasized that while Narcan can prevent death from overdose, it obviously cannot stop the overdoses themselves. The purpose of the training is to equip as many people as possible with the tools to save lives.

“A woman I was talking to said that her son got a Narcan kit at one of these events and saved his friend’s life,” Williamson said.

The overdose awareness event is just one of many initiatives planned for the coming year. Dowler mentioned others, including a drug-prevention night for children in October. Another is an event called Creating Connections, at Oceanside High, in which teachers and students get to know one another better.

“We get over 100 teachers involved, and students buy raffle tickets to have lunch or do activities with their chosen teachers,” Dowler explained. “It’s my favorite event, and it raises funds for our coalition and School Youth Council while fostering strong relationships between students and educators.”

Last year, Creating Connections featured a drug-awareness “Jeopardy” game, which was a hit among the students. “We raised over $800, which went back into our programs,” Dowler said proudly.

Last week’s event served as a reminder of the ongoing battle against substance abuse and the importance of community involvement. “We’re really happy to have our programs start up again in the district,” Eriksen said.